Land pooling: Andhra Pradesh to give 40% of developed land to farmers

HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh government has decided to offer 40 per cent of developed land to farmers and other land owners and acquire about 30,000 acres in the first phase under the land pooling method for construction of its new capital. Those holding assigned land are to be offered 30 per cent of the developed land.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday with the cabinet sub-committee appointed to look into the land-pooling method. In the two-hour long meeting attended by senior officials from the departments connected to land development, the formula of land sharing between the government and farmer was decided, sources said.

It was also decided that the cabinet sub-committee comprising of ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu (finance), P Narayana (municipal administration) , Pratipati Pulla Rao (agriculture), Palle Raghunatha Reddy (information and IT) and Ravela Kishore Babu (social welfare), would tour the capital area for three days starting from October 17.

According to information minister Palle Raghunatha Reddy, who was present in the meeting, the state government and the farmer would share the developed land in the ratio of 60:40 per cent. "If a farmer offers an acre of land for the development of the capital, he would roughly get 1,000 square yards of land after development. Of the 4,800 sq. yards (acre) of land, 1,800 sq yards would be earmarked for development and the remaining land would be shared by the government and the farmer in 60:40 ratio," Palle told the media.

As an incentive to the farmer who foregoes revenue from the land, the state would pay at the rate of Rs 25,000 per acre till the land is developed and sold off, the minister said. "And if the farmer wants to buy land in some other areas with the proceeds he gets from the sale of his developed land, the government will waive the stamp duty and conversion charges. If the farmer wants to keep the land for himself, he would get the compensation for ten years," the minister said.

When asked about the date of commencement of land pooling, the information minister said the process would begin very soon. "Now, we are studying the land pooling method employed in Gandhi Nagar (Gujarat), Naya Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Chandigarh (Punjab and Haryana). We will begin the process of land pooling once we understand their methodologies well," he said.

Officials studying land pooling in Gandhi Nagar, Chandigarh before starting it in AP.

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